On this stretch, from late April, when the first school striped bass arrive, until mid-October, when the last phases of migrating bass depart, there is a style of fishing well suited to both the expert and the rookie--from shore or boat, on your own or with a guide.

There are three basic coastal substrates from Boston north: hard, soft, and a combination of the two. Hard bottom consists of structure such as ledges, rocks, and islands. Soft terrain includes beachfronts and sand- or muddy-bottom waters in the estuaries.

Boston Harbor and the North Shore
Let's start at Boston Harbor, which has some of the best striper fishing in the Northeast. The harbor is divided into two subsections, the inner and outer.

The inner harbor has great structure combinations for striped bass: inshore islands (35 of which make up the Harbor Islands National Park) and small beachfronts, flats, rips (fast current over structure), channels, rivers, and ledges. The outer harbor has deeper water, rips, and ledges.

Massachusetts is home to large populations of schoolie bass but there are also plenty of opportunities for "big dawgs" as well. This 20-pound fish was taken from a school of similar-sized fish busting on menhaden near the mouth of Boston Harbor.

While the water clarity in the harbor is far from clear, it's much cleaner than you might think. Several environmental groups (Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, for example) have invested nearly two decades of work improving the water quality with nearly $4 billion in state and federal aid. The baitfish are back in force, and anglers have caught from 40- to 50-pound stripers in the inner harbor.

You don't need your own boat to fish the harbor, because Boston Harbor Cruises, 617-227-4321, runs hourly charters ($10) to George's island and you can catch a free water taxi from there to Peddocks Lovell's, and Thompson's islands. Call the Park, 617-727-7676, for information on camping on the islands.

From Boston Harbor north to Rockport, the coastline is rocky. Although it is open ocean, a few tidal rivers deposit sand, creating small beachfronts, but it consists of coarse rock, rather than fine sand granules. Mostly though, you'll find sharp cliff drop-offs, rock piles, inshore islands, and ledges that create an uneven structure--places for fish to hold. Current and tidal surges against the structure help stripers trap bait, and the adjoining deep water provides good protection. The main idea is to fish moving water, which forces bait from hiding places; an equal number of fish are caught on both flood and ebb tides during the day or at night.

When fishing from a boat, cast right into the white-water surge where bait is washed up and bass wait. This is best done with a sinking-tip line (250- or 350-grain), because these lines can get your fly into the strike zone, that two- or three-foot-deep area where the fish are feeding just below the surf line. When fishing from shore, fish your fly right to the rocks.

From Ipswich to Newburyport, the coast changes into a softer-bottom estuary system consisting of several major rivers and dozens of minor ones. The rivers worth noting include the Annisquam, Essex, Rowley, Parker, and Merrimack. They run many miles inland from the sea, forming an intricate web of marshlands where thriving baitfish populations provide food for stripers.

Over the years, these tidal rivers have channeled sand into miles of beachfronts, the two most popular being Crane's Beach, formed by the Ipswich River, and Plum Island, formed by the Merrimack. You can fish these areas in daylight during the early season, but as water temperatures and beach-goers increase in July and August, night fishing is more productive.

You can access Crane's through the Trustees of the Reservation beach facility just off Route 1A in Ipswich. Overnight parking permits (available from Ipswich Town Hall) are necessary; the gate is locked after sunset.

The North Shore really has it all when it comes to terrain. There are urban mussel beds in Chelsea and Revere where anglers catch 28-inch fish while commercial airplanes come and go overhead. There are Revere beachfronts, and Nahant and Marblehead's craggy cliff drop-offs. Farther up the coastline, the ledges and inshore islands around Salem, Beverly, and Manchester hold fish in deeper, cooler waters.

The historical fishing towns of Gloucester and Rockport have similar drop-offs interspersed with the beginnings of long, wide, gently sloping beachfronts. Ipswich, Newbury, and Newburyport are tidal zones with long winding estuaries running upstream many miles from their open-ocean endings. These estuary systems remind me of Florida's Backcountry, a fishable labyrinth of main rivers and minor shoot-offs. There are rips and flats scattered at the ends of these beaches, and 4x4 vehicles can gain seasonal access to eight miles of beach through the Parker River Wildlife Refuge gate on Plum Island. A Federal Duck Stamp allows daily access to these beaches, or a daily fee can be paid upon entrance. At the southern tip of Plum Island, you can fish Emerson Rocks and Sandy Point's rock gardens and rips.